Microsoft KB Archive/312250

Knowledge Base

Objects with transparency are printed as opaque to printer or to file in PowerPoint for Mac

Article ID: 312250

Article Last Modified on 1/31/2007

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APPLIES TO

• Microsoft PowerPoint X for Mac

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This article was previously published under Q312250

SYMPTOMS

When you try to print or preview a presentation, AutoShapes that have transparent gradient fills are printed as if they are opaque.

Overlapping single-color transparent fills are printed as transparent, but where the two colors overlap, the top color is the only visible color, and is not a mixture of the overlapping colors.

CAUSE

Microsoft PowerPoint does not send transparency information for PowerPoint objects to the printer.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, use any of the following methods:

• Take a screen shot of the transparent PowerPoint objects and then paste the pictures in the slide, in place of the objects.
  

-or-

• Save your slides as graphic files, preferably in the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format or the Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). These formats support transparency, use a "lossless" compression method, and provide good image fidelity and quality.
  

NOTE: The slides that contain transparent graphics must be printed and collated separately from the rest of the presentation.

-or-

• Save the entire presentation as graphic files.

Method 1: Take a Screen Shot of the Image

Take pictures of the transparent objects, and then paste the pictures into your presentation in place of the objects. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Resize the slide to 100% and arrange the slide so that the transparent objects are visible. Click outside of the transparent objects to make sure that they do not have selection handles.
2. Press COMMAND+SHIFT+4. The mouse pointer becomes a crosshair. Drag to select a bounding outline around the transparent objects. When you release the mouse button, the Mac takes a picture, and places a file named "Picture n" on the desktop.
3. Double-click the picture to preview it, and then click Quit Preview on the Preview menu. If the picture looks good, continue to step 4. If the picture does not look good, switch to PowerPoint and repeat steps 1 through 3.
4. Switch to PowerPoint, and delete the transparent objects that you just took a picture of.
5. On the Insert menu, point to Picture, and then click From File.
6. Locate the picture that you just created and select it. Click Insert.
7. Resize and position the picture as needed.

Method 2: Create Single Images of Each Slide

If there are only a few slides that are experiencing this problem, follow these steps to save out individual slides as graphics. You can then print these slides separately from the rest of your presentation.

1. Open the presentation that contains the slides that you want to export as pictures.
2. On the PowerPoint menu, click Preferences.
3. On the Save tab, change the following settings under Save slides as graphic files:
   
   
   1. Click Save current slide only.
   2. In the Dots per inch list, click 180.
   3. Click to select the Compress graphics files check box, and then click High in the Image quality list. (This step is optional.)
   4. Click OK.
   NOTE: These settings are global for PowerPoint, and do not just apply to the current presentation.
4. Go to the first slide that you want to save as a picture.
5. On the File menu, click Save As.
6. In the Format list, click either Portable Network Graphics (PNG) or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).
7. In the Save As box, type a name that indicates the print order for the slide. Click to select the Append file extension check box.
8. In the Where list, select where you want to save the graphic, and then click Save.
9. Repeat steps 4 through 8 for the rest of the slides that contain gradient transparencies.

Method 3: Save the Entire Presentation as Graphic Files

If most of your presentation slides contain objects that have gradient transparencies, follow these steps to save the presentation as a sequential series of graphic files:

1. Open the presentation.
2. On the PowerPoint menu, click Preferences.
3. On the Save tab, change the following settings under Save slides as graphic files:
   
   
   1. Click Save every slide (series of graphic files).
   2. In the Dots per inch (dpi) list, click 180.
   3. Click to select the Compress graphics files check box, and then click High in the Image quality list. (This step is optional.)
   4. Click OK.
   NOTE: These settings are global for PowerPoint, and do not just apply to the current presentation.
4. On the File menu, click Save As.
5. In the Format list, click either Portable Network Graphics (PNG) or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).
6. In the Save As box, either type the word folder after the file name, or type a different name.
   
   When you save the entire presentation as graphic files, PowerPoint creates a folder on the desktop. By changing the name, you prevent PowerPoint from overwriting the original presentation.
7. In the Where list, select where you want to save the graphic, and then click Save.

PowerPoint saves all the slides to the folder that you specified.

Print the Graphics

After you have created the graphics, you can use any of the following methods to print them:

• Insert the graphics into a presentation, and then print the presentation.
• Use the Preview program that is included with Mac OS X to print the graphics. Make sure to set the page orientation to landscape before you print.
• Use a program such as Graphic Converter to print the graphics as a batch. Again, make sure to set the page orientation to landscape before you print.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

Additional query words: PPTX mac PPTXKB clear print output different change fill

Keywords: kbbug kbpending KB312250

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